The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Ophiopogon planiscapus (Nigrescens type) and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘YAPARD’. ‘YAPARD’ is a new cultivar of mondo grass and is a grass-like perennial grown for use in border, and containers, and as groundcovers.
The new variety of Ophiopogon is the result of an ongoing breeding program by the Inventors in Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom that commenced in 1980. The goal of the breeding program is to produce new cultivars of Ophiopogon with increased vigor, larger leaves, longer flower spikes, and suitability as a groundcover.
The new variety of Ophiopogon, ‘YAPARD’, arose from a cross made in 2002 between unnamed proprietary seedlings developed of the Inventors as both the male and female parents. ‘YAPARD’ was selected as a single unique plant in summer of 2005.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by in vitro propagation under the direction of the Inventors in Stoneyford, Co. Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland in summer of 2005. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined both by division and in vitro propagation to be stable and to reproduce true to type in successive generations.